Muni's L-Taraval streetcar returns after 5-year hiatus

L-Taraval trains resumed service between the Embarcadero Station and San Francisco Zoo over the weekend after a reconstruction of the streetcar's corridor that focused on safety.  

The work on Taraval Street, a high injury corridor with a ridership of 30,000 trips daily on the L-Taraval, was a San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Vision Zero project.

Among the project's benefits:

• Transit priority traffic signals for more efficient and time-saving Muni trips
• Sidewalk bulbouts for safer pedestrian crossing and higher visibility
• Enhanced sidewalks to draw visibility to pedestrian crossings at Taraval intersections
• Safety boarding islands for safer boarding and departures of Muni L-Taraval customers
• Infrastructure rehabilitation and replacement of worn rails, overhead wires, water and sewer lines, and repavement of the entire Taraval street due to heavy usage from both cars and light rail vehicles 
• Infrastructure upgrades will result in less rocking for riders on board the train and rails will be less noisy for other vehicles when driven over
• The streetscape style elements include tree selection, decorative crosswalks, trackway accent colors and public art.

Construction for the L-Taraval Improvement Project started in 2019. To reduce the impacts on the community, the project was split into two segments A and B. Segment A started in 2019 and was completed in the summer of 2021. Segment B began in January 2022.